I'm going to come out and say it- Cybergoths have ruined Goth, and Steampunks are putting the final nails in the coffin.

*laments the passing of High Goth while languidly sipping chartreuse and leafing through old manuscripts on my chaise lounge*posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:48 AM on June 6, 2013 [9 favorites]

I feel like the main purpose of this sort of thing is to make fun of people who are different from whoever's making the video. Yeah, it looks weird if you're not a part of the subculture that does it, but so what? My hobbies might look a tad ridiculous to these people, too, but hopefully they don't feel a need to make mocking videos of me to put on youtube.posted by tylerkaraszewski at 8:49 AM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

I feel like the main purpose of this sort of thing is to make fun of people who are different from whoever's making the video.

Here, I thought the main point was the incongruity of the polka music and what I guess is called "German Industrial Dance."* The humor was in the "here are some totally non-polka people who look like they're dancing to polka music.

I can't get past how profoundly dated this looks. The video quality, the fashion... the inherent futurism of the cyberpunk-ish aesthetic clashes with the fact that by now it, too, seems dated and naive—the very idea that in the grim badass cyberdystopia, cool kids will have fluorescent dreads and chains—it's almost adorable.posted by Sokka shot first at 9:00 AM on June 6, 2013 [4 favorites]

Oh man, old timey industrial goth dancing! Find the bat! Love the bat! Hate the bat! Kick the bat!posted by The Whelk at 9:05 AM on June 6, 2013 [12 favorites]

So.

Kids these days, they like to Vogue?posted by oddman at 9:07 AM on June 6, 2013

I honestly think this is post is simply CHEAP, DISGUSTING MOCKERY. Polka is a valid and a vibrant art form, and for you people to dismiss it with nothing more than a mindless, philistine chuckle - well, Weird Al Yanovich must be crying in heaven, that's all I can say. Crying hot, salty angel tears. Shame on you all.posted by the quidnunc kid at 9:10 AM on June 6, 2013 [16 favorites]

Note to self - Don't get carried away with the MP3 player in Germany.posted by Samizdata at 9:10 AM on June 6, 2013

Those industrial dance routines are hilarious even without the polka musicposted by smackwich at 9:11 AM on June 6, 2013

I feel like the main purpose of this sort of thing is to make fun of people who are different from whoever's making the video.

I don't know... I mean, yeah on the surface, I find the juxtaposition humorous and make no apologies for that. But I think the juxtaposition also fosters an appreciation for the parts that people tend to write off anyway; I mean, share a link to people flatfooting to old-timey music and the typical reaction will be "LOL HILLBILLIES" but put it against Party Rock Anthem and it's "whoa, those old guys have moves!"

What is odd to me is that I never thought about industrial having a particularly rigid dance style. The stand in place vogueing thing (which is obviously similar, but not the same as its namesake) seems newer to me and more an offshoot of gothy handwaving done to less flowy music. I'm more used to the half-step and cross floor lunges (not real terms I have no idea what you call them :-)) as being distinctive to industrial.posted by smidgen at 9:41 AM on June 6, 2013

What is odd to me is that I never thought about industrial having a dance style.posted by bongo_x at 9:50 AM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

The damn trombone in front ruins it. Since when was the trombone ever a part of Polka music or "German Industrial" music?posted by Seekerofsplendor at 10:14 AM on June 6, 2013

The take-homes for me (and I have a huge collection of industrial AND goth music... the drag has gotten a bit tight over the years) are
1) There are only so many ways to move the untrained/average human body, and the available catalogue of moves are also dictated by local/current visual culture.
2) I've always wondered why people could be so shocked by innovations in dance. Juxtaposing two, basically northern European musical styles not too different in time and place (modern polka circa 1930s, industrial/goth 1970s/1980s) shows their common cultural ties. The "disturbing" (or humorous) bit is the slight dislocation from expected vocabulary, while still being recognizable as part of existing art categories. In other words, cognitive dissonance (along with sonic dissonance, some would say).
But I also now have a great theme party concept!posted by Dreidl at 10:25 AM on June 6, 2013 [2 favorites]

well, Weird Al Yanovich must be crying in heaven, that's all I can say. Crying hot, salty angel tears.

I got really worried for a second - he was just touring around here a couple days ago! But I suppose your statement is just taking as a priori that Weird Al is an angel in human guise, who occasionally takes a breather back in the clouds to gather his energy of parody.

i originally wrote 'parodious energy', then realized that it might imply I was talking about this singularly odd 90's shmup, then further realized I wouldn't mind bringing it up anywayposted by FatherDagon at 10:34 AM on June 6, 2013

This video is what the interweb was built for. I like neither Polka or dancing. I feel superior in every aspect to the persons pictured in the video and the "musicians" blurting that umpa-umpa crap. Thank you interwebs. I am whole again.posted by pistolswing at 10:41 AM on June 6, 2013

This adorable video made the rounds on Facebook amongst my goth/industrial friend circles awhile back. It still makes me smile every time I see it. Industrial dance can be very funny, even (especially?) to us old-school rivetheads who actually do it. Most of us don't take ourselves too seriously, and that's part of the joy of being involved with this subculture.posted by velvet winter at 10:50 AM on June 6, 2013 [3 favorites]

Um, my goth/rivet friends think it's hilarious; it also makes the fb rounds on a regular basis in my group. Most of us already know how silly we look. We damned sure certain shouldn't be running around dressing like we do if we can't. Most people having fun do look silly.posted by _paegan_ at 10:53 AM on June 6, 2013 [2 favorites]

I like the juxtaposition of the wholesomeness of polka (or at least to me it has that connotation) with the "look at how rebellious we are" look of the industrial dancers. This type of dancing doesn't seem to lend itself to being watched so much as being done in a club or wherever. Also, I never knew how hard it is to laugh with your mouth closed until I was watching this video and my 3 year old tried to hold my mouth shut to stop me from laughing.posted by zorrine at 11:05 AM on June 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

The humor was in the "here are some totally non-polka people who look like they're dancing to polka music.

I got something more like "plus ca change" out of this. I'm also pretty sure the overlap between people who will dance happily to polka music and will dance to industrial music are at least, people who would get along famously, if not part of the same nerd continuum that folk dances, larps or otherwise doesn't mind looking silly in the name of good fun.

And the stuff that Driedel said. The beats are even identical if you remove the jaunty accordion, being a stamp-stamp-stamp-stamp-stamp-stamp-stamp-stamp-wheeee dance in both cases.posted by Phalene at 11:17 AM on June 6, 2013

Nobody moves more than six inches from where they started. It's like anti-moshing.posted by JoeZydeco at 12:05 PM on June 6, 2013

JoeZydeco - That's because it's crowded in the club and can be quite dangerous to be too close to each other; we learn to constrain our athletics in a small space.posted by _paegan_ at 1:16 PM on June 6, 2013

Paegan - Gotcha. It just seemed like a sweet, considerate thing to do while listening to all the mayhem and destruction around you. The arm movements look kind of dangerous, though...posted by JoeZydeco at 2:04 PM on June 6, 2013

My friend Sheldon Drake explored a lot of these traditional vs. electronic crossovers as a DJ about 15-20 years ago - I lived it. Really the best stuff was his techno vs. square dancing remixes, which I can't find any of today...posted by lupus_yonderboy at 2:30 PM on June 6, 2013

velvet winter: It still makes me smile every time I see it. Industrial dance can be very funny, even (especially?) to us old-school rivetheads who actually do it.

zorrine: This type of dancing doesn't seem to lend itself to being watched so much as being done in a club or wherever.

Yeah. My first reaction was "Oh, so that's what I look like when I'm dancing." My second was to turn off the video, worried that I'd be too self-conscious to ever dance again. Phwooo.posted by rifflesby at 3:39 PM on June 6, 2013

OK now the obvious question is, where's the video of German Industrial music over Polka dancers?

I can't find it, but I once saw a great video with Morris dancers overlaid with 'Jump Around' which worked pretty well.posted by winna at 4:24 PM on June 6, 2013 [2 favorites]

rifflesby: My first reaction was "Oh, so that's what I look like when I'm dancing." My second was to turn off the video, worried that I'd be too self-conscious to ever dance again.

I can relate, but I do hope you don't let self-consciousness stop you from dancing to industrial music if it's something you enjoy. Have fun out there on the dance floor! Enthusiasm for music and dance are beautiful things, regardless of one's level of technical skill.

The first time I saw a video of myself dancing to industrial, I cringed, and I've been taking dance technique classes since I was a teenager (jazz, ballet, modern, and more recently bellydance.) For a time I was so enthusiastic about industrial dance that I even considered starting an industrial dance troupe, but...well, after watching a few videos of my middle-aged self in my stompy boots dancing to E-Craft and Skinny Puppy, and after considering what the twentysomething rivetheads are doing on YouTube these days, I scrapped the idea - and I'm glad of it. In general, industrial dance doesn't really lend itself to stage performance - it's a club dance style, done for fun and for social reasons. And that's the way I like it.

I still dance my ass off in clubs and at industrial shows whenever the music moves me to do so, no matter what the young'uns may think. I plan to keep it up until I have to be propped up to do it, and even then, I'll continue to dance with whatever body parts are still moving.posted by velvet winter at 5:11 PM on June 6, 2013

TheWhiteSkull: "Cybergoths have ruined Goth, and Steampunks are putting the final nails in the c"

Cybergoths are the best thing to happen to goths in the last 20 years, and polka is the best thing to happen to cybergoths in the last 10 years.posted by Bugbread at 6:47 PM on June 6, 2013

In a similar vein (no-one else linked it here yet?) there's a very clever mashup of Rammstein with some Bavarian folk music (from a group called Haindling who totally go off live, but that's another story):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T5q2C2IEBE

Amusingly, after this went viral in Germany, Rammstein started actually playing that song in their concerts.posted by illongruci at 3:18 AM on June 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

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